(Australian) Foreign Minister (and former/possibly future PM) Kevin Rudd says the timing of the release of a damaging video in which he furiously swears and rounds on embassy officials and a Chinese interpreter is “a little … unusual”.

The video, in which Mr Rudd – who was prime minister at the time it was recorded – slams the table and curses repeatedly, has been posted on YouTube as a Labor MP publicly warned the party would be ”decimated” if it stuck with Julia Gillard.

In an interview on Sky News this morning, Mr Rudd said the video was embarrassing but his frustration was directed at himself and no one else.